We are Us
by MamaMeu
Summary: We are Us is a first person short story from the eyes of Zer0 in BL2 and a bit about the way he feels for Maya. I do not own Borderlands Borderlands 2 or their characters


Author's Note:

Hey everyone so here's that BL2 fanfic I kept promising. Finally got it down the way I wanted it and so here it is. Basically I ship Zero and Maya like hard core, and I have this head canon of my own for him so hope you guys enjoy.

I do not own Borderlands 2 or its characters.

(P.S. If I get some reviews encouraging it I may expand it but for now it's just a one pager.)

Thanks!

We are Us

The air is dry and scorching here during the day but freezing cold at night despite the fact that we had managed to find an abandoned house with good airflow. Oasis is a town with the population of exactly one, a guy named Shade. Upon our arrival we quickly realized the town was taken over by a sand pirate named No-Beard and his crew. After killing off the nuisances Shade suddenly became the team's number one fan. Night had arrived quicker here than expected and so the crazed and probably dehydrated civilian offered to house us for the night.

Of course it was a silent agreement that the whole group would feel much more comfortable in one of the deceased town member's houses.

"Alright guys everyone get some rest we head out in the morning." Axton tells us before heading up the stairs and patting his "girlfriend" with soft words. Salvador watches Axton take off and up the creaking staircase with an amused expression before draining the last of his fourth bottle of beer and standing up to stretch out.

"I think I'm going to crash too guys. Aye aye aye its cold here at night no?" With a shake of his head Salvador sets his bottle on the table and makes way up stairs and to the second room of the house.

I sit there with my hands clasped between my legs and my eyes on the ground as I listen to the sounds of Maya getting up from beside me and making the larger couch that currently has Salvador's butt print on it into a more suitable resting place. I don't have to look at her to know what she's doing, after all it's just something I know. It's probably time that I get ready to sleep as well but the truth is I know I won't sleep all. I haven't in years. One of the many things that the group doesn't know about me.

Well, most of the group.

We wait a good forty-six minutes and twenty three seconds sitting there in the silence before I can hear first Salvador and then Axton's snoring from the opposite ends of the hall. My index finger twitches and from that simple movement she knows. It's almost like we have both been holding our breaths together in that laps of time. That's ridiculous though considering I don't actually have to breathe anymore its more just like a continual habit I've carried with me. Plus it's impossible for Maya.

I know what comes next but it never seems to cease its surprise. As I stare at the ground I can hear Maya's soft steps move towards me and finally her feet are in my vision. Without any words I sit back a bit so she can straddle my hips and rest her forehead against my visor. It doesn't make any sense really. The computerized part of my system tells me that the logical choice for her should have been Axton. And it should have after all since he's shown clear feelings for her ever since they met.

The humanoid half of me though, what little remains that is, cannot deny the fact that there are things, rare and disturbing things that I feel towards Maya and no one else. Even my auto responder seems to pick it up apparently. Maya tells me she's only seen it a few times though and usually when she's badly injured. I asked her what it said once though and she told me it said nothing, it was simply a heart.

Mayas fingers touch the base of my helm as she pulls the release trigger and slips it off my head. It takes a moment sense I'm used to seeing her face through my scanners but after a moment of blinking at her my database and scans read her as indeed "beautiful". She reaches out slowly as not to startle me I suppose, her fingertips brush the edge of my jawline and I blink as I feel nothing but stimulated touch. I know that hurts her and in a part of my mind it hurts me as well. To not be able to truly feel her gentle looking touches.

After being captured by Hyperion Tech my body was used as an experimentation to create the perfect assassin. On the outside my body looks rather normal if not startling pale, but truly every inch of my skin is a grafting of prosthetic material. On the inside most of my brain is now computerized sensors and chips, my oxygen is regulated by an automatic program that truly requires no actual breathing at all, and due to the surgeries even my voice was replaced by an auto responder and vocal box making it harder to communicate long sentences. So in the end the only things still human within my system that I know of are my heart and a few brain cells.

Maya sits there like that, brushing her little fingers over my face as I blink snapping a hundred pictures of her in this one moment. Most of the group always gave her a hard time for having the emotional level of a brick wall, but the truth was Maya was softer than anyone truly knew. There were many times when all was said and done Maya simply would slip into my arms and silently cry. The worst part was I always found myself wanting to cry with her even though I had no logical reason as to why.

Closing my eyes I can feel Maya's hand stop and hesitate before I part my lips. The truth was that somewhere deep down inside I hated myself because no matter how hard I tried I could not give her the thing she wanted most. I know that in this moment she's biting her lip with worry and I can't help but wish I could feel her every touch. The reality of it all was that whatever this secret thing between us was, it made us both feel human again.

In these small dark moments she is not a siren who's spit upon for existing. She is not simply another beautiful creature on Pandora. She is not a lonely woman.

In these small dark moments I am not a heartless assassin. I am not an experiment. I am not an unfeeling robot.

In these dark moments we are simply to people.

We are not wanted

We are not criminals.

We are simply a man and a woman.

We are Zer0 and Maya.

And we are in love.


End file.
